Monthly Archives: March 2011

Here’s a sample song I composed and arranged which I will be singing at the benefit concert for Northern Japan earthquake and Tsunami victims. This is without the percussions yet and other voices. please copy and paste above link. Thanks

The Gospel read today tells us about a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader and a member of the Sanhedrin who may have been reluctant to approach Jesus by night to ask about the truth of salvation. Recognizing Jesus as a teacher from God, he said, “No one can do this sign unless God is with him.” “Truly, truly I say to you,” rejoined Jesus, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus curiously replied, “How can a man who is getting old, with wrinkles, possibly born anew? How can he go back into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Nicodemus, surely as a teacher, realized that Jesus is not talking about literal rebirth but was speaking figuratively. He must surely have known that being born anew means only a fresh start to a life. However, if we try to regard the passage with some care, perhaps the question that Nicodemus asked was much more profound than he realized: Can he go back a second time into his mother’s womb? For there is a sense in which this is just what a person can so easily tries to do. Let me try to expound that:

Allow me first to share with you what happened to me, to you and to all of us when were born.

For all of us, the event of birth has been so far the most important event in our lives. I hope that you don’t think that I am being indelicate in reminding you of what happened at our birth. For how can we possibly know what it means to be born again unless we know what it meant to us to be born at all?

The very reason that we don’t like thinking about our birth shows that we feel strongly about it. Indeed the evidence goes to show that many of us have buried deep in our unconscious minds the events of our birth. They are nearly always painful. During my clinical rounds as a student nurse at Kaiser Redwood city, I was stunned when I heard the words “Leonard!!! If had it not been because of you, I wouldn’t have been in so much pain like this” Screamed a woman in the delivery room trying to push the baby out of her womb. Then the baby came out crying. I thanked God that Leonard wasn’t me.

Let me draw your attention to two points in connection with our birth, and each case I would like to invite you to consider their relevance to spiritual rebirth.

First, to us, our birth must have been a trying experience. When we were born, we did nothing ourselves to assist our birth. It was not our own effort but the force of our mother’s muscles. We had to be pushed through a narrow passage into the light of day from being under pressure in a tight place. Many doctors have claimed that this experience was so vivid that it persists in our feelings later in life. Although of course we do not recognize it as such. When we are in a panic, we may be reliving the experience. When we are under pressure, we may feel that everything is closing in on us. We may experience breathlessness. We may feel constrictions of movement. We may seem to be in a state of helplessness. It should be the same experience with spiritual rebirth. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself went into the same experience when he was forced by the spirit in the wilderness, almost as it were in spite of himself. And if this was true for Jesus, how true must it be for us if we are spiritually reborn! But people so often feel that they are only making progress in their spiritual life when everything seems to be going easily. If they feel emptiness, depression or panic, they usually feel like something might be wrong. It seldom occurs to them that. On the contrary, this may well mean that things are going right. This principle remains true for us all though we may differ in ways. Spiritual pressure prepares us for spiritual life.

The second point about our birth is that it was the end of a comfortable and sheltered existence. Before we were born, we lived effortlessly, cushioned and protected and fed by our mother. Indeed we were still part of our mother, so that we did not have to take upon ourselves the strains and stresses of an individual life. But after we were born, how different it was! A baby at birth is exposed for the first time to cold and heat, to pressure and roughness, to nice and nasty sensations. A baby at birth no longer has oxygen supplied free. He has to breathe in the cold air and his very first breath shocks him into a cry. I suppose the best commentary on our birth is that the first noise we uttered was a cry.

“Ungeee” That’s our first word. “Well, had it not because of that midwife slapping my behind, I wouldn’t have cried.”

A new born baby experiences the same discomfort of cold. The effort of breathing, the feeling of hunger and yet all this is essential if a baby is to make progress and fulfill the potentialities within him and grow up into a mature person. Because of love, God sent His only Son to the world that he may lead us to salvation by going into the same experience all of us have gone through in our birth. He felt the same discomfort; Breathing, the feeling of hunger, pain, even death, his painful death on the cross that we might be saved. Like us, he made progress and fulfilled the potentialities within him and grew up into a mature person. God made this possible for us to learn that bewildering and unfamiliar surrounding experiences are essential to salvation. Although that happened, many of us still long to get back to that haven of peace and security that we had before we were born. We often feel what bliss it would be to have no responsibilities at all. How marvelous if we could just have peace and security all over again. How wonderful if we could just sink ourselves in someone else’s personality and forget everything else. When we feel like that, and we all do from time to time especially if we are frightened or confused, then we are probably harking back to the security we had before we were born. Now if birth means the loss of peace and security, so also must spiritual rebirth. We can no longer lean on the conviction of others. We can no longer take things for granted on the authority of others. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that being born again means he has to live the life of a mature individual person, no longer cushioned and protected or insulated against the heat and cold of life. Often we hear people say, “If only we could rely on the authority of the mother church or the diocese and place ourselves unreservedly under her protection.” Let us be quite clear that such people are very far indeed from spiritual rebirth. They are going in the opposite direction. They remind us of Nicodemus question “Can a man go back a second time into his mother’s womb?” That is the just what this people would like to do. They want to escape from the responsibilities of personal existence and return to that unreflective peace and security which they have in the womb.

Spiritual rebirth means the opposite. It means maturity. It means no longer an effortless existence but reliance on our own convictions and on our own experience in life, our relationship with God. We need to rise up from where we are, able to stand up and sustain ourselves and experience rebirth spiritually. Of course we do not stand alone. We belong as Christians with the Christian society, but our relations with others, if we are spiritually reborn, must be characterized by maturity and not by dependence.

In this season of Lent, let us open ourselves to God through Christ in faith, hope and love to prepare ourselves for the Holy week and finally arrive in Easter with great celebration. May we all learn from our birth experiences and grow from that experience to become more matured in our spiritual rebirth. Amen.

The air is filled with joy today in this God’s Holy Place. The Holy Spirit has brought us all here to witness the miracle that is about to be bestowed upon these wonderful, loving and joyful couple, Karen and Steve.

Karen and Steve – your special day has arrived and it is a Blessed day. This is both an ending and a beginning. It is the ending of the months and months of planning for this special day. The decisions and the worrying about how it would all come together for this day is finally realized.

It is also a beginning. No more dreaming – reality is here. You are about to take one of the most important steps of your life – and I say “one” not because there are no more important decisions – but perhaps among the most holy and life giving ones. Your special day has arrived and it is picture perfect. You are both beautiful – handsome, your family and special friends are here in this Holy Place to witness your joy together in the presence of God and His people. But life is not a fairly tale – it is very real. In the lesson that you chose for this special day you heard poetic and elegant words from St. Paul’s written to very real people – people like you and me, people trying to live in this world. St. Paul always seemed to be addressing people who were having difficulty in living the gospel and this reading is about how you do it correctly.

Love is kind, it is gentle. You probably didn’t hear it today, but you’ve heard it before. Make a copy of it and put it on the refrigerator as a reminder. For these words were first written to ordinary people like us who had forgotten how to live and love. Love is also very practical. It is hard work. God created each of you as wonderful unique individuals – who have chosen to share their lives. Rejoice in the others uniqueness. You cannot create the other person to be the image that you created in your mind – but only rejoice in what you are both becoming as you hold hands and share that journey.

Marriage vows are sacred, for you vow to the other person that you will always be there for them and that you can trust them – no matter what may come. Marriage is not “if” experience. It is a commitment, a covenant before God with another person. And that brings us to God. You have to this Holy church – not only because it fulfills your dreams as to where you wanted to make your vows, but because God is important in your lives. Your invitation for God’s blessing does not end here; it extends to the rest of your lives together even in the life after. That’s why Paul said Love is the greatest because it transcends even to the life after.

Karen, you’re so beautiful from inside and out. I became a part of your family when your mom Rita passed away. You made your family feel her presence in your celebration. A song goes, “there’s hole in the floor of heaven, her tears are falling down, that’s how you know she’s watching” telling you how proud she is in how you have become just like the day she met your dad. It was a blessing knowing your beautiful and wonderful grandmother. Her smile is very uplifting. Your love for her is the reason why you brought yourself here in the heart of the Lenten season.

Steve, you touched my heart when you shared the life of your dad Hugo and how you wished he is here. Your uncle has helped you become a man as you are today. Your mom and your family are so proud of you.

Both of you came from a family of faith. Let that be strength in your marriage. Pray together, let God be in the center of your life together and not relegated to the edge or crises.

Thank God each day for your daily bread and for the courage and wisdom for living each day. And when it is time to rest at the end of the day remember God is up all night and will watch over you.

Karen and Steve, I have one special advice to share and for you to treasure. When the going gets tough, which is a given part of every relationship, let one of you be subject to humility. It takes two to quarrel. But somehow I’ve learned that when one is willing to listen with humility, the sense of respect follows.

I am sure you will find that effective in your togetherness. Always remember what we shared during your marriage counseling, that Love is a two way process. Love cannot fulfill itself in a one way process; unless there is both giving and receiving, love must remain unsatisfied. This element of receiving is very often overlooked in our concept of Christian Love. Love, is the basic law of life, it is both giving and receiving. Today, you will affirm that love is both giving and receiving. Continue your passion with sports and things that make your hearts grow. At the end of Lakers and Golden Gate basketball game, don’t mind about the score, what matters most is that you had time and fun together. Continue being SF Giants fans.

Finally, look around and know how much you are loved. We are each here to show that love and when the tough times of life come, know that we will be there for you – to walk beside you and support you. And that includes me – so when you go from this place be assured that you go with God’s blessing and ours. Amen

“Open, O Lord, the eyes of all people to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works, that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may honor thee with our substance, and be faithful stewards of thy bounty.”

Do you know what this is? (fig leaf)

Not very big, is it? Sort of a fig leaf bikini, it seems to me.

It’s what Adam and Eve used, the first reading says, to try to hide from God.

But you know from the story that they were not successful.

God found them. As God finds us. Which is what this Lenten season is about—letting ourselves be found by God.

We just heard this story from the book of Beginnings, of Genesis, that tells the beginning of our trying to hide from God. Adam and Eve have done the one thing that they were told not to do. Later there would be 10 commandments, but in the beginning there was only one: Don’t eat from the tree in the middle to the garden. So what did we do? We ate from the tree in the middle of the garden.

Then came the first “Uh-oh!” And that’s when we first tried to hide the truth—with a fig leaf, Genesis says.

The next 3 verses after today’s reading ends continues the story of the first attempted cover-up:

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid so I hid myself.” (Gen. 3: 8-10)

Clad in their fig leaves and taking cover behind the trees, they attempt to hide from God. But God calls out to them: “Where arrrrrrre yooooou?”

Now once found out, Adam comes clean. – I know: in a few moments he will try to blame everything on the woman, and she will try to blame everything on the serpent.

But first off, Adam comes clean and confesses: “I was afraid” he confesses, “so I hid myself.”

This is why any of us hide— because we are afraid. Why else would we hide except when we are afraid, when there is something in our life that we would like to avoid facing.

I was at a financial planning conference not long ago where I attended a seminar on “life planning.” In the financial planning profession nationally, there is a movement among financial planners that is called “life planning.” Life planning challenges the assumption that the role of a financial planner is to help the client to maximize their wealth. Instead, it begins with the question, ‘What is the wealth for?” In other words, the role of the financial planner is not simply to help you to get more money; it is to ask you, “What is the money for???”

Roy Dilberto, our former national CFP resident who has a practice in Kansas City, says that when they do an intake of new client, they have the client come in and they bring the client into a comfortable conference room and they ask the client three questions. The first question is, “If you had all the money that you wanted, what would you do?” The second question is, ‘If you knew that you only had 10 more years to live, how would you spend these next years ahead?’ And finally, “If you were to die at midnight tonight, what would be your biggest regrets?” March 13, 2011.

Here is where they bring out the box of tissues, for it is a question that stirs up deep feelings in us because it gets us in touch with places in our lives where we might want to make some adjustments. If for a moment we consider our how we are living our life from the standpoint of its sudden and inevitable end—which is of course is the whole point of putting ashes on our heads to bring to stark awareness that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return”—if we can for a moment imagine how our life would look from the perspective of all our chances to do anything different being completely over: then what does it feel like to us?

Of course, by the grace of God, our lives are not yet over, and we have this season of repentance, of turning, in which we may still make some significant changes in order to bring our lives more into alignment with what we know is most important in life, and with what alone lasts forever.

This third and final question asked by this financial planner of his new prospective clients—if you were to die tonight, what would be your biggest regrets?—is an apt question for us as we enter a season of coming out from hiding and letting our secrets be exposed to God who is merciful and will love us into a happier path.

It should not escape our notice that the person, the professional advisor, who is asking these three questions is a FINANCIAL advisor. He is someone who is seeking to help people come into more fruitful relationship with their money. I don’t think that I have to point out to you how rare this is, that people come into a relationship with their money, their financial assets, that is positive and meaningful for their lives.

In my experience as a professional financial planner as well as a priest, I come into touch with a broad range of people in terms of their financial circumstances and I can reliably report to you that there seems to be no direct correlation whatsoever between net worth and net happiness. Financially wealthy or financially poor, the genuine happiness of a fulfilling life seems to be as remote or as accessible to one as to the other. On a per capita basis, you may not find more happiness in Ross than you would in the Canal. It all depends, I have found, on what relationship a person has found with life and with their money as an expression of their life.

Do you remember the old Jack Benny gag in which the penny-pinching Jack Benny is accosted by a mugger who sticks a gun in his face and demands, “Your money or your life!” Finding no response, the mugger demands more urgently: “Your money or your life!” Jack Benny replies, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking!”

Well, our money and our lives do get pretty twisted together, often in ways that we do not understand. Unless we have had occasion to explore our feelings about money, we are likely to still be living out whatever the messages were about money in the family we grew up in when we were still tiny youngsters. I won’t go into what these messages were in the household I grew up in, but I will encourage you to consider your own personal earliest experiences and how these may have blindly shaped how you feel about money today.

Perhaps you’ve heard enough about money now and want to get back to the Bible. Perhaps you recall the final words of Jesus from the Ash Wednesday gospel: “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” This is how Jesus concludes his counsel to us about how we are to engage in our spiritual disciplines, disciplines of praying, and fasting, and alms-giving. Did I say alms-giving? Then we are back to money again. But if we examine the teachings of Jesus, then it is hard for us to avoid this topic that often makes us feel uncomfortable, because fully 40% of Jesus’ sayings relate to money.

The only reason that Jesus talks so much about the M-word is because his concern is for our souls, our hearts, and—as he says—where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. We invest our money with such deep and often unexamined meaning. I was a parish pastor for 12 years before I left parish ministry and became a financial planner. These two occupations seemed poles apart to most people. “So you abandoned God for Mammon!”, I was teased. But what I discovered is that there was about a 70% carryover from my skills as a pastor to my skills as a financial planner, from pastoral care and counseling to financial care and counseling. And this is because – as Jack Benny exemplified—there is a deep connection between our money and our life.

In one of the first interviews I was conducting as a financial planner, when the husband got up and left the room, the wife leaned forward and confided, “We tell you things that we haven’t even told our therapist!” Yes, I was thinking, or your priest.

When we peek behind our own fig leaf at the things we try to hide from one another and from God, we may find there our relationship with money. “I was afraid,” Adam explained, “so I hid.” It is easy in our culture to be afraid of money. We may be afraid that we do not have enough, or we may be afraid that we have too much, or that we are not managing it well, and so on and so on.

This is precisely where we want to listen for the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening, and calling out to us: “Where are you?” Because the mercy of God is bigger than our fear, and the forgiveness of God is bigger than our sins, and God can lead us out into a new place of resurrection. The direction is pointed to by Jesus when he speaks of getting our hearts and our treasure moving together in the same direction.

“If you were to die tonight, what would be your biggest regrets?” the financial planner asks. This is an exercise that can bring us to a clearer recognition of what it is that is most important to us. What is it that matters most to you in your life, what is more precious to you than anything else—perhaps more than life itself? The more clearly you can discern and name what is most important to you—your deepest values, your faith really—the more completely you can bring your life including your money into alignment with what gives your life meaning.

To the extent that we can get our lives and our money lined up with our hearts, we will know the genuine happiness that comes from knowing that we are on the right path, a path that leads to God and to being a blessing for others with whom we share this world during our brief pilgrimage on earth. To the extent that we get our financial assets—our income, our capital and our estates—lined up with our souls, our money becomes an expression of our hearts and our heart’s devotion and a source of joy. Imagine that: our money becoming a source not of anxiety, but rather of joy.

And the first step in this direction is precisely the step that we have already taken this morning of coming here to this place, before this Table, to come consciously into the presence of the one before whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid. –Before whom no fig leaves hold up. The one who dealt with his temptations so that he might help us with ours. The one who gave his life, and said, “Take eat, this is my body, given for you. Take and drink, this is my blood poured out for you, for the forgiveness of sins.”

We stand at the beginning of Lent, reminded that we are dust and that we shall return to dust at the last. The people of Haiti know something about dust and ashes, particularly as a sign of destruction and of mourning. People here are reminded of grief wherever we turn, grief that still sits heavy alongside the piles of ashes and dust. When those piles really begin to disappear, hope emerges in their place.

The ashes and dust of this day at the beginning Lent are a reminder that even though we may be destroyed, God continues to do a new thing. Even the worst destruction that enters our lives cannot destroy what God is doing. We start this journey of Lent by looking toward Jerusalem, where Jesus was killed by the political destroyers of his day. Out of the destruction of his body, out of the dashed hopes of his disciples, out of the tomb where they laid his corpse, God continues to bring new life.

How are the people of this land and this diocese today? Some are still standing around outside the tomb, some are in the closed-up room with Thomas asking for proof that this is really Jesus. Some are eating breakfast on the beach with the risen Jesus.

Last year, we encouraged you to understand that Lent had already come, and that the task was to look for resurrection everywhere. This year, life is still hard and uncertain, yet there are solid signs of resurrection in the work Bishop Duracin and the leadership of this diocese have begun. This cathedral will stand again. Its art will once again feed the hearts and spirits of this nation – and of the world. The many healing and teaching ministries of this diocese are beginning to re-emerge with new strength. The body of Christ stands together in solidarity to do the work of re-building.

As we walk the journey of Lent this year, the old disciplines are going to help: prayer, fasting, giving alms, examination of conscience, and meditating on God’s living word. The gospel encourages us to turn outward – to not be so focused on our own experience, whether it’s the holiness of our personal prayer or the outward signs of ashes and fasting. We are not the only people on this planet.

This year, remember the people of Christchurch, New Zealand, who have also suffered a devastating series of earthquakes. That diocese was among the first to respond when the earthquake happened here – their bishop challenged her people to raise $100,000 for relief work here. Their cathedral now lies in ruins as well. As you pray for them, what would the people of Haiti tell the people of Christchurch about the healing work of the last year? What you’ve learned in this journey? God is certainly building a new bridge between us all, reminding us that we are part of the same body of Christ, living on a fragile earth that moves and creaks and groans, and a world that is connected heart to heart, when we treasure each other. This world is being continually reshaped as mountains are created – or leveled. The works we construct on this earth are but dust, and at the same time we seek shelter in the palm of God’s hand, knowing that we are beloved.

What do we treasure? Where do our hearts focus? These buildings are precious, yet this body is even more precious, as it seeks healing for itself and the world around it. May we be rebuilders and repairers of this broken body.

The ashes we will receive in a few minutes are a sign of that brokenness. Yet they are also precious reminder that we are all created out of the same dust – we share a common humanity with all other people who have ever walked this earth, including Jesus of Nazareth. We have a common part with all of creation. We are made of the same dust and ashes as the stars in the heavens. And all of it is precious in God’s sight. May the ashes on our forehead remind us of the cross made there, in the same place, when we were baptized. Those crosses are a sign that we, too, are meant to be light to the world. May those crosses shine with hope for rebuilding and repair, hope for love to heal this world.

As I stand before you in this elevated pulpit of Holy Child and St. Martin, also stand today on a rather higher elevated pulpit at Grace Cathedral, the good Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, ArchBishop Desmond Tutu. As much as I would not like to be compared to the good ArchBishop, I can’t help but with joy, like Peter in the Gospel, say, “We’ll both share our own mountain top experiences in light of the Transfiguration story,” with a goal that your own mountain top experiences will also come to be realized.

The Transfiguration account begins with the phrase, “Six days later, after Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain” Why would Jesus take only the three and not the twelve? These brothers must have some bothersome issues they have been keeping inside them and that Jesus would like to show them something before their very eyes which could make them realize and understand sooner or later the meaning of all their questioning. For six days, they carried this news of Jesus’ impending death around inside of them. For six days it soaked into their souls. For six days they secretly grieved for the inconceivable death of their Savior. What would they do without Jesus? For six days they walked in a daze between denial and acceptance of the most unacceptable news they had ever heard. On the seventh day, Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain. And suddenly on that “Sabbath” day, the day of God’s favor, the glory of God was revealed to them in Christ. His clothes and his face glowed. Heavenly light shown from him. And that wasn’t all. Moses and Elijah appeared. The two greatest Prophets of God right there with Jesus. Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice came from heaven and said, “This is my Beloved Son, with him I am well pleased; listen to him.”When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”

Jesus and the apostles are alone again and make their way down the mountain together. The apostles do not understand what they just experienced and therefore do not say anything to anyone. They do not, however, forget. They speak of it again after the resurrection, and they interpret the resurrection in light of their experience on Tabor.

Great and significant events in Jesus’ life take place on a mountain. It is a place of manifestation for Matthew. In Matthew’s gospel the temptation of Jesus, the beatitudes, the sending of the apostles on the mission of the church, were all mountain top events. The Lord will usher those who are his own into the light of glory on a high mountain at the end of time.

After my ordination to the diaconate in 1993, I was assigned to a remote area in Mawigue, Conner Apayao north of Philippines. The road was rough, rugged and muddy during rainy season. Not even a boot can move me up for an hour and a half hike up to the mountain. Most of the times, I had to walk with my bare feet and sharpened great toes to keep me from sliding down a hill. But there’s a big mango tree in the middle of that hill that most people would stop and rest. The feeling was revitalizing as I scroll my eyes to the panoramic view of the village. The banana and coffee trees, the wild animals and fresh water stream were just wonderful to see. The village people were pure and humble in spirit. I had wished that I stayed there for the rest of my life, but I realized that I had to come down and tell the others and my family the wonders of God in that place. I told my bishop, “come and see.” The next day, the bishop put on his boot and tracked the rugged road with me. Just as we arrived on that mango tree area, he had an asthma attack, the cool wind came brushing his face and felt better. The whole village people gathered at the small chapel on a hill for dedication. It was a transfiguration experience I will never forget.

You too have your own mountain top experiences. Every day, every work, and every challenge is our mountain top experience. Thanks be to God for the Sabbath, a time to regain strength and be transfigured by God’s grace through Jesus Christ who would remind us, “Do not be afraid, get up and be strong.” We may not be able to explain fully the beauty of God’s love however we can describe them and we will never forget. To be at a highest peak on earth is one of the most wonderful experiences one could ever have. The panoramic view, and the realization that all that beauty is God’s creation makes the heart leap in glory. The mere experience of watching clouds float by at eye level simply makes one feel close to God on a mountain. Try to put yourself on the wings of the eagle or the hawk gliding gracefully from above high mountains and feel the wind brush your face, oh what a feeling.

Singer and Song Writer John Denver wrote the song Eagle and Hawk with the following words: “Come dance with the West wind, and touch on the mountaintops, sail o’er the canyons, and up to the stars. And reach for the heavens, and hope for the future, and all that we can be, not what we are.” John Denver simply knows the feeling of being in the mountain top and be alone with God. He had a vision of a better place after that mountain top experience.

Before he climbed the highest peak on earth in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary, a new Zealand mountaineer and explorer, envisioned success and fulfillment of his goal with humble determination to reach the peak of Mt. Everest of the Himalayas. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Tibetan mountain climber, gave hope to the world that there’s no highest mountain impossible for man to climb. Today, hundreds of mountain climbers reach the peak of Mt. Everest and had a glimpse of the panoramic view of God’s creation and coming down, their hearts were filled with wonders and with great joy to share the world.

American Heartthrob Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus rendered a beautiful and inspiring song, “The climb” Heather and Hailey would compete songs of their own American Idol version at home singing these lines,

(May I ask all young ones to sing it for us)

“There’s always going to be another mountain, I’m always going to want to make it move, always going to be an uphill battle sometimes I’m going to have to lose. Ain’t about how fast I get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side, it’s the climb. The struggles I’m facing the chances I’m taking, sometimes they might knock me down but, no I’m not breaking. I may not know it, but these are the moments that I’m going to remember most yes, just got to keep going and I, I got to be strong, just keep on pushing on…”

(Thank you children)

Life, especially the life of faith, is an uphill battle. There are rocks and pits in the trail and at times it gets steep. As we trudge up the trail we are met with disappointments and doubts. Even though we have confessed Christ as the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, it gets difficult. And we are troubled by doubts and dilemmas. Why does God let innocent children suffer? Why does God allow faithful people to die of cancer. Why does God let the suffering of the world touch me? Why does God let me suffer? Why would God allow people to easily push down further those people who are already in the mud, and humiliate them? It’s like a kick in the teeth. “Hey, wait a minute Jesus, remember me, I was the one who said you are the Son of Living God, and now you do this. You can’t go die on a cross for me, I won’t let you.” And we sit and stew in our disappointment. We grieve over a loss that we can’t seem to accept. We keep poking the sore spot to see if it is any better. And we doubt. For six long days, or months, or years, or decades, we sit in the darkness of a cloud that overshadows us. And our spiritual vision never goes beyond our hurts and doubts. But in faith we sit where the Lord has called us to be. But then the seventh comes, the Sabbath day, the day of God’s choosing. What then? Then the Glory of the Lord is revealed. On the Sabbath day Jesus stands transfigured, glowing with a heavenly radiance, right before our eyes. On the Sabbath day the voice of God speaks out of the cloud itself. I don’t know where you are. Perhaps you are in a valley or in darkness. Or maybe you are going up a mountain, or coming down the mountain. Wherever you are remember that God’s people have been there before. And when the time was right, when God decided the time was right; the glory of the Lord enveloped them. When the trail gets steep remember that God’s glory is always revealed at the right time. Hold on to the glory that you have seen and the promise of the glory that you will see. Balance it with the truth that the trials of the past have shown you. And let it prepare you for the desert places and trials ahead. If we hold on together, to that glory and the voice, it will enable us to face the memories of the past and the troubles of the future just as Moses and Peter did. The mountain may be steep, but remember that God is with us and God’s glory will meet us at the top.

May this day lead us all to a deeper transformation with God as we welcome Lent and come to that victorious day in Easter where all our doubts will be washed away through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen

March 13, Sunday at 9:00 am and 10:30 am., The Rev. Richard Schaper, Diocesan Gift Officer will visit Holy Child and St. Martin and grace us with homily. Daylight Savings Time Begins.

March 17, 24, 31, April 7 and 14 2011 ,Thursday evenings at 7 PM, Ruth Hoppin, author of Pricilla’s Letter is inviting everyone to a Lenten Bible Study here at Church Library. A registration form is at the back for you to fill out.

March 26, 2011 at 6:30 AM, a whole day trip to Colusa California. Come and try the Season’s Buffet at $8.95 per person with senior discount. Free breakfast!!! Seats are available for reservation. Please call Maja Milanes at (415) 244-7010 or (650) 991-1560.

Shelter and Homeless feeding

EVERY 3RD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH
We need volunteer cooks and servers for Safe Harbor Shelter. Make it your thanksgiving offering for all the blessing received; For it is also in giving that we receive.
We welcome donations for food purchases.
Call Rev. Rebecca Goldberg at 650-291-5289. Or call the Church phone at 650-991-1560, or simpy click the donation link.
EVERY FRIDAY AT 6 PM, Peninsula Food Runners pick up at Genentech and drop off at Safe Harbor Shelter in North Access Road SSF. (Need volunteers. Please see Fr. Leonard)

Health and Wellness Center

Our Health and Wellness Clinic opens on Sundays at 1 PM to 3 PM, and Mondays at 7:30 am to 10 AM.
We provide the following:
1. Free Blood Pressure, Heart rate, Lung and Weight assessments and monitoring.
2. We refer those with no insurance , unemployed and low income individuals to health professionals and health partners for follow up and assistance.
3. We provide Free health education, nutrition and physical exercises. Every Last Sunday of the month from 1 PM to 2 PM, Medical Doctors and other health educators are invited for a forum on specific issues.
4. Arthritis exercises are offered every Monday at 8:30 AM to 9 AM with Dr. Ronald Mitchell, Chiropractor.
5. We are partners with ALLICE Alliance against Domestic Violence.
6. We provide spiritual assistance to complete our goal for Body, Mind and Spirit.
Contact us at 650-991-1560